Mary Beth Long

Mary Beth Long

Mary Beth Long (born 1963) is a businesswoman and former senior U.S. Government official. In 2007, she became the first woman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate for an Assistant Secretary of Defense position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Long served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2007-2009.

Education

Long is a Pennsylvania native and honors graduate of Penn State University magna cum laude. She studied abroad in Taiwan attending the Taiwan National and Fu Ren Catholic Universities. While working in the government, she earned a J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law. During her education and career, she learned several languages, including Spanish and Chinese.

Career

Since 2010, Long has been the Principal at M B Long & Associates PLLC, a law firm specializing in international compliance related to export issues and consulting; and founded Metis Solutions, a government contracting company with revenues of approximately $15M. In 2014, Inc. 5000 recognized Metis Solutions as #201 on its annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Inc. 5000 also ranked Metis as #10 on its list of “Top Ten Fastest-Growing Private U.S. Defense Contractors.” In 2015, Metis is ranked #661 on the fastest-growing private companies list. Long also founded and is co-owner of Askari Defense & Intelligence LLC, an international consulting company.

While in the government, Long served as an Operations Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency from 1986 to 1999. During that time, she worked both domestically and abroad and received numerous service awards, including several Exceptional Performance Awards. She also successfully completed the Clandestine Operations in Dangerous Areas (CODA) course, among others.

From 1999 to 2004, Long was an attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP. She focused primarily on private investment due diligence, insurance malpractice, and attorney malpractice litigation. Subsequently she has built expertise on U.S. international export and business compliance requirements.

Long returned to the U.S. Government from 2004-2009 and served in the Department of Defense. In 2004, she became Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counter-narcotics, and she served in that role until 2005. In that position, she was the primary architect of counter-narcotic security and training strategies for Afghanistan and Latin America and managed a budget of over $1B.

From 2005-2007, Long was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and served as the Secretary’s advisor on Asia, South East Asia, Middle East, Africa and the Western Hemisphere (2005-2006); and later on Europe, the Middle East, Africa and NATO (2006-2007). In 2007, Long was Senate confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (she served as Acting ASD from March-December 2007). She was the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Policy and Secretary of Defense for the formulation and coordination of international security strategy and defense policy, with responsibility for the Middle East (including Iraq), Europe (including NATO in Afghanistan) and Africa. She also oversaw the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) and the DOD geographic centers at the National Defense University (NDU) for the Office of the Secretary of Defense policy organization. She was appointed Chairman of the High Level Committee responsible for NATO’s nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO in 2007.

Awards and Recognition

Long received the Department of Defense’s highest civilian awards, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award; the National Guard Patriot Award; and numerous CIA performance awards.

Long engages in several activities outside her businesses. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, advises the Government of Colombia, is active in political campaigns, and has previously served as an advisor to the U.S. Marine Corps, NATO and its Training Command/U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the U.S. Special Operations Command. She is currently co-chair of the bipartisan John Hay Initiative’s Middle East Committee and serves on its Intelligence body. She is a frequent public speaker and appears on Fox News, Al-Hurra, and BBC, among other outlets.